Seidio has just begun to take orders on its jumbo sized extended battery for the Palm Pre. The Seidio Innocell 2600mAh Extended Battery provides 90% more capacity than the original OEM battery. Seidio includes a free replacement back door that accommodates the larger sized battery. It snaps into the existing area and has a soft touch exterior coating which adds about 5mm (.2" inches) in thickness to your device. The battery does provide much more juice but at the cost of size and connivence as this model is not compatible with the Touchstone charger.

The Seidio Innocell 2600mAh Extended Battery is shipping now from Seidio and will soon be available from the PIC store as well. It costs $64.95.

So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

This is a great looking extended battery in comparison the rumpshakers of Treo / Centro past. Makes the device look properly weighted and the coating is nice. I wonder if the thickness affects the camera lens? Also, it seems that more than 2600mah could have been squeezed out of the space used.Pat Horne

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

Should be seeing a 3200+ in the near future. Even with the extra thickness that looks to be sweet to hold in hand. Swapping a small and large battery is a great option. I'm glad Palm did not go the Apple route on that one.Pat Horne

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

I think the hope was that you had a better reason for using the $370 number. You would've been on more solid ground had you said "costs $270-$370 out the door", although I think you've misspoken there. The "charging-gimmick-free Pre" actually costs $300 from Sprint, and $200 from Best Buy. (I'm assuming that the "gimmick" in question is the Touchstone charger, after all.)

IMHO, if this technology is that attractive to you, then you're the kind of person the technology is for, and it's probably worth the extra money. For me, that wasn't the case.

I just couldn't justify spending $70 on a piece of technology that didn't really add anything to the equation, as far as I could tell. Using the USB charger (or the wall charger) isn't enough of a burden that the Touchstone enhances charging. It arguably looks better, but I can't think of anything else it does.

Does anyone here have one and see a benefit over the standard charging scheme?

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

SeldomVisitor wrote: Actually, it costs $100 out the door at LetsTalk.com...

Actually, it's still $200 out the door, for at least two reasons:

1) The additional $100 "rebate" is a mail-in.2) The "rebate" isn't a rebate at all. They don't knock a dime off of your initial $200 investment. The $100 is a credit, which can only be used towards merchandise and service, in the form of a pre-paid card.3) You don't even see a dime of that until 4 months of service have passed.

Always read the fine print! :)

RE: So a charging-gimmick-free Pre then...

Not QUITE: That $99 price isn't exactly "out the door". There's a $100 MIR to factor in, so it's essentially the same as BB's $199 price initially. If all goes well, the additional $100 savings comes...sooner or later.

Whoever is selling the Pre for $99 with no rebates (other than an instant one) and no other strings attached will be certain to get some attention. Heck, even pricing the Pre halfway between the old tech of the iPhone 3G @$99 and the new 16GB 3GS @ $199 could be a wise move.Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

TSB

RE: TSB

Methinks I'll be getting one of these instead of the touchstone. Wish I'd done it with the Treo680. Almost double battery life - gold. Besides, it's $5 cheaper than the touchstone so I'm ahead (a little).

RE: TSB

Not supporting the TS is a deal-breaker - I would probably spring for it otherwise (the Pre is so thin that this increase couldn't possibly make it fatter than my old Treo 680). The TS is such a simple device but it's really amazing. Now it's not any trouble to leave the phone charging all the time when it is idle and would otherwise be sitting on my desk (sucking down its battery).

Seido, hope you are listening... Larger capacity battery that is TS compatible = bigger sales! Surely making a battery/cover combo that is TS compatible can't be that technically hard and/or cost that much more.

P.S. Seido, good on ya this time for making a cover that doesn't make the Pre look hideously pregnant - this cover doesn't completely destroy the smooth contours of the phone. The old covers were definitely more function over form.

RE: TSB

Thanks - good info - hadn't considered that (though I really should have).

Maybe they have already but they should really talk to Palm about licensing the technology... Surely they could work out some sort of agreement acceptable to both parties - if past experience is any guide, Palm isn't likely to produce any large capacity batteries. AFAIK, they've only ever sold stock replacements. Though Palm is making money on selling extra batteries, licensing the technology would only help sell more Touchstones and they're really making a killing on those margins-wise.

Travel tip

Okay, now I've got a BlackBerry. And I considered the option of an extended battery, like the Seidio, for previous devices.

But taking the advice of fellow travellers in the company I work for (we employ about 9,000 people), it was cheapest, easiest, most convenient, and gave better phone time if I just carried a spare with me, and swapped it if the primary battery went dead.

Some of our road warriors carry two spares!

That's why serious mobile manufacturers make the battery swapable.

RE: Travel tip

Yes, you are right. But Palm has a weakness here. It takes a Treo and a Pre about 17 hours and 30 minutes to boot when the battery removed.

I wish Palm would return to the little solution they had in the 90s where the batteries were "hot" swappable and the device did not lose memory. That would be a nice feature to give the user about thirty seconds to replace it before it required a reboot. Unfortunately, WebOS boots like molasses in winter, from the tests I've seen. This would make battery swapping very nice.Pat Horne

RE: Travel tip

RE: Travel tip

IIRC, Palm's solution in the '90s was to have a two cent capacitor which held its charge for about thirty seconds so you could swap the battery without losing data. Since the Pre's memory persistents indefinity between battery swaps, they could probably implement a similar solution. They would only need to provide enough juice to let the Pre go gracefully into sleep mode.Screw convergencePalm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm PreVisor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Prehttp://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

PalmInfocenter.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by Palm Inc. or HP.
Any use of the word Palm is for discussion purposes and is a registered trademark of Palm Inc.
Unauthorized use or reproduction of content is strictly forbidden.